Glass Castle
by lapierredx01
Summary: "Granger,let me help you" "Don't you understand? You can't fix this!" The war is over. When Ron's behavior changes and he starts to abuse Hermione none of their friends notice..what will happen when a certain blond haired Slytherin comes to her aid? Slightly AU, plus loads of Dramione! WARNING: contains non-graphic rape, violence and other things that might be considered triggers.
1. Prologue: Just the beginning

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K Rowling

P.S: This chapter will be kind of short since it's only the prologue, but my normal chapters will probably be anywhere between 3000-5000 words. I'll try to update at least 3 or 4 times a month, but no promises.

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Prologue

It was the beginning of Hermione's 7th year and she was border-lining ecstatic. Voldemort had been defeated by Harry the previous year and all finally seemed well in the wizarding world. There had been a few losses of course, including Moody, Sirius, Fred, Lupin and Tonks, but Hermione felt as though everyone had been handling things rather well considering the circumstances. Harry was the most torn up about everything out of the lot of them, but that was understandable, and Ginny helped him deal with a lot of it, even if she was fighting her own inner demons as well. Hermione still hadn't been able to locate her parents after sending them to Australia, but she wasn't losing hope, and she most certainly didn't regret her decision considering all the muggle killings that had taken place during the war. Ron was handling himself well… at least 'well' in his standards. The brunette witch had begun to notice some changes in her boyfriend's behavior during the summer following the final battle. He was constantly angry and he would consistently try to blame Hermione for certain situations they had been put into. The youngest Weasley brother had also begun the habit of getting himself pissed, Hermione let him do it though because she felt as though it was a part of his grieving process. That was one of the reasons she was so happy to be back at Hogwarts, she was hoping Ron would begin to return to his usual happy, goofy self.

She was now standing on platform 9 ¾ with Harry, Ginny and Ron. They were lugging their trunks towards the train when Hermione felt herself run into something hard and solid, she was falling quickly to the ground before a pale arm reached out and grabbed her at the last second.

"Watch where you're going yo-oh it's you." Hermione looked up to see who was addressing her and found herself shocked to be staring into the silver eyes of a certain Draco Malfoy. She could see Harry, Ron and Ginny from behind his shoulder, they hadn't even noticed she was missing. The Gryffindor witch cleared her throat before gingerly removing herself from Malfoy's arms.

"Yes, it's me. Now if you'll excuse me…" she was about to maneuver herself around him when she felt his familiar grip on her arm once again. He looked just as shocked as she was.

"I umm…nevermind. See you around, Granger." He gave her semi-wave before turning and hurriedly rushing away.

Hermione shrugged, for a moment there he seemed almost guilty…was he going to apologize? The brunette witch didn't really blame him for the whole incident at Malfoy Manor, he hadn't turned them in even when his father threatened him to do so, and yet Hermione still felt rather uncomfortable around him. It didn't really make much sense, he was her childhood tormentor and she was used to his belittling, but she felt as though if he continued to harass her now, she would simply snap. She had thus come to the conclusion that even though he hadn't turned them in, he was still a rotten prat. He had stood there and watched her getting tortured, the selfish git hadn't even looked at her as she scanned the room in hopes of finding a pair of eyes that weren't cold as ice to help her hang on. The one moment she thought she saw him shift, as though to rescue her from his insane aunt, was when Bellatrix had taken out her enchanted dagger and began carving the word _'Mudblood' _on her forearm. How ironic, Hermione thought, that the one thing that made him flinch happened to be a word that he had introduced her to when she was only 12 years old, the audacity of that boy!

She was interrupted from her internal rant when she saw Ron approaching her, it seemed as though he finally noticed she was missing, and he looked furious, but Hermione couldn't piece together why. He came towards her and grabbed her wrist, silently huffing as he dragged her towards the train.

Once they were inside she expected that he would lead her to their usual compartment that they shared with Harry and Ginny, but she was confused as he strode right past it, hauling her with him. 30 seconds later and Hermione had enough.

"Ron? What's wrong?" she tried to maneuver her arm out of his grasp, but he only clenched it tighter.

"Shut up! Just shut-" he didn't finish the word, but shoved Hermione into the empty compartment that they had been passing by. The curly-haired witch didn't have the time to brace herself before she tumbled to the floor, so she hit her head with a resounding thud on the ground. Ron was standing over her, peering at her with a mixture of anger and disgust.

"Ron, what's the meaning of this?!" the brunette attempted to sit herself up, but winced as the bump on her head throbbed.

"You don't have the right to question me 'Mione!" He knelt down in front of her place on the ground and grabbed her chin, tilting it up so that she was forced to look at him. He examined her face for a moment, as though deciding something. "Especially not when you've just been consorting with the _ferret _of all people." He hissed menacingly. Hermione's eyes widened as the red-head drew back his hand before it slammed into her face full force.

Hermione blinked. Once. Twice. Warm tears were building up behind her eyelids, and she heaved breaths in choked gasps. _He had hit her, actually hit her! _She had noticed the sudden change in his behavior, but she had never suspected that it would lead to this! Hermione supressed a whimper as she looked up at the boy she loved. He was staring at his hand curiously, but not a hint of remorse or guilt was shown on his face, even his eyes seemed like ice. As if he felt her stare, he hauled her to her feet before shoving her against the compartment door. She tried struggling for a moment, but he soon had both her hands pinned above her head by her wrists. _Not once had she thought to use her wand, _she thought in humiliation.

"Listen, you traitorous slut. I don't know what that was with Malfoy on the platform, but it ends got it?" Ron demanded harshly.

"Ron, it wasn't like that! I bumped-" she was interrupted by a violent slap, once again directed at her face. She cried out, but upon seeing his warning expression, she bit her lip to stop any more noise from escaping her mouth.

"Don't interrupt me." He said coldly. "Now, we're going back to the compartment with Ginny and Harry. Don't bother telling them about this, you know they won't believe you. They don't care about you, Hermione; only I care for you. And that's why things are going to be different from now on…are you going to act like a submissive girlfriend or will I have to punish you again?" he emphasized this by tightening his grip on her pinned wrists. Hermione realized she'd probably have many bruises to cover up tomorrow.

"I…I'll b-behave." Hermione's voice shook in fright. She didn't know what else to do, she loved Ron and would do anything to please him…she just wished he wouldn't hurt her and if that meant listening to his obscure paranoia then so be it.

"Good girl." He now had a goofy smile on his face, it was as though his whole demeanor had changed. He eased his grip on her arms and she rubbed them tenderly; there would definitely be bruising. Ron pulled the petite witch into his arms and placed a sloppy kiss on her lips-one she didn't return- and began feeling her up underneath her clothes. When he decided it was enough, he tightened his hold on her and began leading her back towards the compartment.

"Ron…I umm…may I go fix my face?" she gestured towards the large purple bruise that had already formed on her jaw. He pulled her towards him and hissed in her ear,

"Concealment charms only, if I find out you healed them you'll be punished"

Hermione nodded before rushing to the washroom, keeping her head down to cover the bruise. She hardly noticed when she ran into a certain 7th year Slytherin.

"Woah, Granger, you're really making a habit of this…" he trailed off as she looked up at him and he spotted the large welt near her mouth. _That definitely wasn't there before, _he thought. "Hey, are you-"

"I'm fine, Malfoy. Just took a spill in the compartment." She hurried past him before he could get a word in edge-wise.

When she got to the bathroom she looked at her reflection and gasped at what she saw. She had expected the bruise, but she'd never have guessed how large and brutal it would appear on her pale complexion. Hermione touched her damaged skin and winced. _This was only the beginning. _


	2. A truce

**I'm going to apologize in advance for both this chapter, and the next few chapters…my computer broke down a while back and luckily I was able to get it fixed, but it's taken awhile to get back all the documents that were lost and unfortunately they are the unedited versions of the chapters I had written :/ I only just got them back two days ago and I think most of the major errors are fixed, but there may be some minor editing issues…anyways SORRY FOR SUCH A LONG WAIT! I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! Merry Christmas**

**Disclaimer: I wish.**

Chapter 1: A truce

_1 month later_

It was the beginning of October, which meant the school year was now in full-swing. The 'eighth' years had intermingled classes with all the seventh years, and to promote house unity, all classes had a combination of at least 2 separate houses. There were a few new professors, namely the defense against the dark arts teacher, who went by Professor Bennett. He fit the tall dark and handsome description perfectly, with slight stubble, and since he was only in his mid-twenties, most of the 6th and 7th year girls deemed him appropriately available.

The Gryffindor house was very pleased when they discovered that their former head of house would be taking over the role as Headmistress. At the beginning of the year feast, Hermione had been announced as head-girl, which came as no big surprise to anyone, but shockingly it was Malfoy who Professor Mcgonagall had chosen as head-boy. Hermione and Draco had formed a truce of some sorts; she wouldn't go so far as to call them friends, but they were capable of working together amicably when the situation called for it. He was still an egotistical prat, but there was something almost lighter about him now, a softer playful side to him that Hermione had never had the chance to see before, due to his overbearing prejudiced father. That was the other thing, not once this year had he made any comments about her blood, the brunette witch liked to think it was because he had truly recognized the fact that he had been wrong all throughout their younger years, but Hermione knew it was really because of that fateful occurrence at the manor and the jagged letters that now scarred her arm.

At the moment, she and Ron were walking to the Great-Hall, or rather; Ron was walking _her _to the Great-hall. Things had been getting gradually rougher between the two of them, but Hermione still couldn't find the heart or strength to end it. She told herself that it was because she knew that deep down inside he was still the old Ron and that she could make him return to the person he once was, but the reality of the situation was that she was frightfully scared. There would be moments where she saw a glimpse of a happier Ron, but that would only last so long until the next time she was a few minutes late to something, or she would not show enough affection in public, but the worst was always when he thought he saw her eying another boy, or another boy eying _her_.

"Come on 'Mione! I feel like I'm pretty much dragging you! Don't you want to be seen sitting next to me in the Great-hall?" Ron asked, still marching her down the corridor. To most it would sound like a playful remark, but Hermione had quickly adapted to his hidden meanings, what might seem like a playful quip, is most likely an underlining threat. The Gryffindor team had won the match of Quidditch against Ravenclaw yesterday, and ever since Ron's head had been the metaphorical size of a beach-ball. He had, of course, expected Hermione to take on the role of 'devoted trophy girlfriend' meaning she had sat on his lap the entire time during the after party as he got drunk off his arse. He had claimed that he didn't want her out of his sight in case some git tried to take advantage of her.

Throughout the night it had been increasingly uncomfortable since his _wand _was digging into her hip the entire time. At one point she had asked him if she could go talk to some of her other friends, he had refused and had later punished her; she was now sporting a black bruise on her right temple that went unnoticed by her friends due to the glamour charms she had mastered.

They finally made it to the Great-hall and Ron sat her down between himself and Ginny. Harry, Luna and Neville were all sitting across from them, all chatting lively as they took bites of bacon, eggs and toast. Hermione chose not to eat, she didn't have much of an appetite these days, and her boyfriend's firm grip on her knee certainly wasn't helping anything. She was thankful that today she didn't have any classes with Ron, she had Advanced Arithmancy in the morning with Ernie Macmillion, Terry Boot, Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy (there were only 5 students in the lesson). Then she had a free period and lunch, followed by Advanced Transfiguration which only contained a handful of students. Hermione was so caught up in her thoughts that she hardly noticed when her hand slipped and knocked over a cup of pumpkin juice straight into Ron's lap. Ron stood up immediately, subsequently dragging her up with him.

"Look what you did now!" he growled, Harry and Ginny were looking at him with confusion, but quickly shrugged it off as though he was just having a bad morning. Meanwhile, Hermione had her head bent towards the ground, practically trembling, since he looked just about ready to strike her in front of everyone. Instead however, he grabbed her hand and began dragging her from the Great Hall.

"Come on 'Mione, at least come with me to clean it off." Ron said, loud enough so that the others could hear. She solemnly nodded her head and allowed herself to be pulled along by the redhead.

As they reached the corridor, the brunette Gryffindor was relieved when Ron seemed to indeed be taking her to the boys' lavatories, he wouldn't dare hit her there; there could be too many possible witnesses. Her relief was soon overridden by horror as at the last minute he shoved her into a hidden alcove. Hermione's breath hitched when Ron pinned her against the wall, using his hands to pin her arms above her head in a bruising grip, and his body was pressed hard against hers, rendering her unable to move.

"What was that stunt in the Great Hall 'Mione! Some kind of signal to Harry?!" he was shouting in her face and his breath reeked of eggs. Hermione decided enough was enough, if he was going to hit her and beat her down, then she was at least going to go down with a fight. She violently twisted her arms until they were out of his grip; she then shoved him roughly aside and made a run for it.

Just when she was about to reach the corridor, she felt a strong hand grab hold of her ponytail and tug sharply, making her whimper as Ron pulled her deeper into the alcove. As he finally let go of her hair she fell to the ground and scuttled back against the side-wall, absently rubbing her scalp. Ron bent down so that he was at eye-level.

"I knew you were guilty, and you're little stunt just a second ago proved it. He lifted her up by her arms, Hermione was thrashing wildly as he once again pushed her into the wall, bruising her back. Suddenly his lips were on hers, rough, unrelenting and punishing. She refused to open her mouth and give him access, but it appeared as if he noticed this, so he plugged her nose with his thumb and forefinger until she opened her mouth, allowing him to seek her tongue. When his tongue was in the right spot, Hermione bit down on it…hard. He immediately pulled back and back handed her. She fell to the ground from the force of the blow.

"Oh, you're in for it now bitch!" he spat giving a sharp kick to her ribs. The next 10 minutes were all a blur of punches, kicks, slaps, groping. At one point he snatched her hand and guided it towards the massive bulge in his trousers.

"Don't you see what you do to me, 'Mione?" he groaned, his hips bucking at her touch. Meanwhile, Hermione was struggling profusely as an attempt to release her hand that was lodged in his vice-like clutch, so as to no longer be near the impending tent in his pants. "I think you owe me, Hermione. And it's about time I received my reward." The brunette witch panicked as the ginger brute in front of her began tackling the clasp on his belt, he was reaching for his zipper when Hermione snapped out of her shocked reverie.

"No! I mean…p-please don't. I'm- I'm not ready, Ron." She ending up nearly whispering the last part and to her utmost disbelief and horror she felt streams of tears trickling down her face.

Ron looked down abruptly; upon seeing her face, his blue eyes softened ever so slightly, but the enlightenment only lasted a second before his irises darkened in barely suppressed anger. He roughly shoved her away from him, Hermione remained lying on the ground as he approached her limp form. He tucked his shoe under her chin and tilted it so that her chin lifted towards him.

"Next time I want something, you better be willing to give it, unless you're prepared for it to be taken." His words were harsh and cold; he removed his foot from under her, and without another word, left the alcove.

As soon as he was out of sight, Hermione picked herself up off the alcove floor, wincing immensely. A large flood of relief washed through her, as she realised that she had dodged a bullet, if only temporarily. The onslaught of terror she felt minutes prior slowly ebbed away. She checked her watch; she still had 3 minutes to make it to her first class. Sighing loudly, she realized she must look horrible, what with her tousled hair that was no longer in its neat ponytail, along with the fading tear tracks. She made her way to the corridor, but not before covering her face with several concealment charms. The bruises on her arms and back would have to wait, her sleeves covered the more prominent markings anyways.

As she turned the final corner to head towards the classroom, she nearly ran into someone's back. She internally kicked herself for her stupidity as she saw the shock of almost-white hair on the person's head. Had she not noticed Malfoy passing the alcove? It certainly seemed as though he were heading to their arithmancy class, and this was the only way to get there….

As if sensing her presence, the blond haired slytherin turned slowly on the spot. Upon seeing her, his eyes widened ever so slightly before returning to their usual not-quite-so menacing glare.

"What are you doing in the corridors, Granger?" he narrowed his eyes, but not threateningly so.

"I could ask you the same question." She cringed as she heard the sound of her voice; it was raspy from Ron's tight grip on her throat earlier. She made a soft 'ahem' noise before moving to get past him. Within a second, Draco reached out and grabbed her wrist. It wasn't a rough grip, but it was slightly firm, and the small amount of pressure immediately made her recoil in discomfort. Malfoy noticed this and let go, looking inquisitively at her arm.

"I suppose you're heading to arithmancy too then, bookworm?" he sneered half-heartedly. Hermione's eyebrow quirked at the nickname.

"Yes actually. Now if you'd excuse me, I 'd like to get to class on time." She moved to get past him again and this time he let her, before following her himself.

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The lesson droned on, but Hermione enjoyed the complex skill in identifying magical properties in certain numbers, it helped to distract her from her current situation. Professor Vector eventually called on them to split up into partners and discuss the individual magical properties of the number 38.

Usually in circumstances such as these, Terry and Ernie would pair together, and with Nott and Malfoy being obvious partners Hermione would end up working by herself. Today however, Nott was absent, leaving Hermione and Draco giving each other awkward glances from opposite sides of the classroom, each daring the other to move first.

Finally, Hermione huffed in impatience and frustration before picking up the satchel she used to lug everything around with her, and headed towards Malfoy's desk in the far corner of the class. He was watching her intently, she observed; to most it would seem he was eying her with indifference, but the brightest witch of her age recognized the glint of curiosity that was hidden in the depth of his grey irises. She raised both her eyebrows, as though to ask him, _what now? _The blond shrugged and turned his gaze back towards his work. Hermione looked at the chair that was sitting across from him in apprehension. _Was he capable of being civil, or would he tear her up with insults and derogatory comments as soon as she sat down?_

As though reading her thoughts, Malfoy responded, "Take a seat, Granger. I don't bite." And then the infuriating git smirked at her! Hermione snorted indignantly and plunked herself down into the seat. Malfoy's previous smirk turned into a wolfish grin, much to her chagrin; she was used to his snarky retorts, but this new teasing attitude towards her was irritating beyond belief. She rolled her eyes and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she tugged at her sleeves in a sign of nervousness, unknowingly drawing attention to the now-purple bruise that was blossoming on her lower left wrist.

"What's that?" Malfoy asked indecently. The curly-haired witch looked up sharply, her doe-eyes snapped to his grey ones, but his attention was apt on the flash of purple that was peeking out from under her sleeve.

"It's nothing. I fell down the stairs yesterday, Malfoy, honestly."

"Getting clumsy are we Granger?" he sneered. Hermione simply shrugged, putting an end to the conversation.

They continued talking about the magical properties of the number 38, and _only _talking about their work. Every now and then Malfoy would stray off to a different topic, but Hermione refused to participate in any discussion that didn't involve their school work. It was nearing the end of class when Malfoy, yet again, drifted the conversation towards another subject that was solely based on his interest in humiliating the witch sitting across from him.

"So your boyfriends were too thick to take this class were they?" if he had said this a year prior then his tone would have been full of malice, but today it was said in a manner of indifference and nonchalance. Hermione didn't reply, so the Slytherin continued, " Doesn't surprise me. Scarhead and weasel would have been dead ten times over if they hadn't had you, the bushy-haired bookworm, on their side."

"Because Crabbe and Goyle are considered intelligent company I assume?" she snapped back, but she soon realised the error in her words as Malfoy glowered. "I-I'm sorry..I didn't mean…"

"It was a compliment." Draco whispered.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"When I insulted Potter and Weasley. It was a praise to your intelligence, a back-handed compliment perhaps, but an appraisal none the less." He responded, he had a grimace on his face, but his eyes were soft and showed a sorrow that hadn't left since the war.

"I-thank you, for the compliment that is." She replied, unable to think of anything else to say. Malfoy nodded in affirmation. He gathered his books together and was about to head towards the door, it was only then that Hermione noticed that the arithmancy class was over and they were the only two left. Just as he reached the door, Malfoy's back straightened abruptly and he turned slightly back to face her.

"How's the _weasel_? I heard you two were an item now." He uttered 'weasel' with such disdain that Hermione shuddered.

"I'm..I'm fine- I mean we're fine, great actually." She corrected herself hurriedly, unconsciously tugging both of her sleeves down even further; an action that did not go unnoticed by Draco.

"Really, Granger?" his eyes narrowed menacingly and the Gryffindor shrunk back slightly, Malfoy's gaze tempered, but then hardened as his eyes once again drew to the bruise peering out at him from underneath her oxford. He stepped towards her and softly took her wrist and towed her gently towards him "…because I think-"

"-What are you two still doing here?" It was professor Vector. "You had best be getting to your next class, it wouldn't do to be late during the first week back to Hogwarts." The professor told them, not unkindly. The Gryffindor and Slytherin both nodded and departed the classroom. They were half-way down the hall when Malfoy suddenly turned around. Hermione caught herself at the last second and managed not to run into him…_again_. He looked down at her and then sighed loudly.

"Look Granger, we've been living in the same common-room together now for a month. I think it's about time we called some sort of truce." He looked at her with a certain kind of hopefulness.

"I thought we already called a truce when we both realised we would actually need to interact with one another." She replied snippily.

"There's still animosity between us. Everyone can see it…look, I don't care about blood anymore; the whole pure-blood theory was idiotic to begin with, and I never truly detested you as much as some of your gryffindork friends…" Hermione observed that Malfoy seemed almost nervous about something .

"Spit it out, Malfoy." She said finally.

"I want to try a truce, a _real _one. And who knows, maybe if it works out we could even be fr-" he hesitated. "_acquaintances _of some sort." He remedied.

Suddenly, there was a hand stuck out in front of her. She looked at it in apprehension before firmly grasping it and shaking it, Malfoy had a hint of a smirk on his face.

Just then, they both saw a Gryffindor with red-hair marching towards them; recognizing who it was, Hermione staggered slightly where she stood. As Draco gave her a look of what could have been concern, she smiled unconvincingly back at him. The Slytherin tugged her forward slightly so that his mouth was right by her ear, Hermione glanced worriedly over his shoulder as Ron approached.

"If it's _him _and you need a hand, let me know." Malfoy spoke in a hushed whisper and then gently shoved her away just as Ron loomed behind her.

"What are you doing here with this snake, 'Mione?" Ron snaked an arm around her waist and dragged her up against his side.

"We w-were-"

"-We had an assignment in arithmancy, not that you'd know since you're about as daft as a mountain troll. Granger and I were comparing notes." The blond Slytherin spoke with a detached air of superiority as he easily insulted Ron. The red-head in question growled in derision, pulling Hermione even further towards him (if that was even possible).

"Sod off, Malfoy! Come on, Hermione, I've got a free period too." He gave her a sloppy kiss and started hauling her down the corridor. She looked back and saw that Malfoy was giving her a lingering look.

"See you in transfiguration, princess." The Slytherin called out just as she and Ron turned the corner. Ron didn't respond to Draco's comment, but she felt his grip harden around her as he continued marching her towards what Hermione assumed was the Great Hall. Suddenly, he changed directions and she soon found herself in front of the room of requirement. Ron let go of her arm as he paced back and forth in front of the blank space of wall. Then a wide iron set of doors materialised and he turned towards her with a glint of maniacal glee barely hidden in his eyes. She gulped loudly as he shoved her towards the door.

"I think we need a place to teach you a lesson, isn't that right? _Princess?_"


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